Huron County deputies rescue 30 kayakers

PORT AUSTIN —The Huron County Sheriff Department and other rescuers had to round up and help about 30 kayakers who were caught in a storm Sunday afternoon.

According to a news release from the department, the kayakers were about a mile and a half north of Port Austin in Lake Huron when they were caught by a storm that spawned large waves and had west northwest winds with gusts exceeding 30 mph.

Sheriff Kelly Hanson said the area has seen more incidents involving kayaks as the area has grown in popularity as a destination for paddlers.

"We’ve had a lot of trouble the last couple of years," he said. "It’s become a fad that’s been very popular.

"We have a couple of points of scenic interest that people are heading out to where they’ve got themselves into trouble," he said. "Last year we lost a father who was on a kayak with his wife and two children, not enough life jackets. This year we lost another kayaker who was headed down the shore without a life jacket."

He said he was on the water Sunday and using his cellphone to monitor the approach of the storm.

"You could see the formation of storms from Tawas to the south," he said.

According to the news release, Huron deputies were in the Port Austin harbor where they had issued tickets to kayakers for not wearing personal flotation devices.

They responded to the area with Port Austin firefighters and employees from Port Austin Kayak.

Hanson said people are drawn by the area's scenery, including the famous Turnip Rock near the tip of the Thumb.

"The people who come up here to take in the scenery are making bad decisions because of inexperience," he said.

Lake Huron is a large body of water and must be treated with respect, he said.

"We’ve written a lot of life jacket tickets," he said. "We are trying to get across to people who are coming up here for what we have to offer."

He stressed that kayakers need to be aware of their limits and should monitor cellphones or radios for weather information.

Contact Bob Gross at (810) 989-6263 or rgross@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobertGross477.